Asparagus Sausage Pasta

This new recipe that I cooked tonight, Asparagus Sausage Pasta comes from this amazing Italian recipe book that I downloaded recently; 1000 ricette di Pasta by Newton Compton (1000 Pasta recipes). That’s how simple the title is but its full of so many treasures. I have been deep reading it on my way into work the last couple of weeks, taking in each recipe like it was a new chapter in a thriller.

The simplicity of these recipes and few ingredients would suggest that these dishes wouldn’t pack so much flavour. How wrong was I?? VERY! Try out this recipe to see what I am talking about.

Asparagus & Sausage Rigatoni

Ingredients (serves 4-5 people)

500g Rigatoni or Conchiglioni Pasta

300g Asaparagus

1 garlic clove,

1 tsp dry Sage or 2 fresh leaves

400g Sausage meat

1/2 glass of Marsala

30g butter

100ml double cream or ‘Panna’ (Italian cooking cream)

Salt & Pepper

Wash the asparagus and trim the ends; cut them into 4-5cm chunks

Put them in a pan of boiling salted water and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Drain and keep them to one side

In a deep pan, melt half the butter and add a drizzle of olive oil. When heated, add the garlic clove, crushed with the sage.

As soon as the garlic is slightly brown, remove from the pan and add the sausage meat in little chunks.

Cook for a few minutes, until the meat is slightly browned, then add the Marsala and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes

Then add the cooked asparagus and cook for a 2-3 minutes with the sausage meat.

Finally add the remaining butter and cream; season with salt & pepper.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water, drain and stir into the sauce.